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Rockies become the Stonies as Colorado legalises cannabis

Michael VincentUpdated
Wed Jan 01 08:37:00 EST 2014

From today it's legal to grow, sell and use marijuana - recreationally - in the US state of Colorado. 20 American states already allow medical marijuana use. Many are watching the results in Colorado to see what full legalisation means.

Transcript

TONY EASTLEY: January the 1st will see the state of Colorado legally allow the growing, sale and use of marijuana for recreational purposes.

Already 20 American states allow marijuana use for medicinal purposes and many of them are now looking to Colorado to see what full legalisation and regulation means.

While police in Colorado say they will comply with the new laws, they're not all happy about the changes.

Correspondent Michael Vincent reports.

(Sound of machine stamping)

MICHAEL VINCENT: This machine has been stamping out joints non-stop. The shop owner is excited she's now allowed to sell an ounce, or 28 grams, to any Colorado resident over the age of 21 and a quarter ounce to anyone else.

OWNER: The world will be different from January 1st on. We brought in a staff of people. We have three people that have been rolling joints for two days straight.

MICHAEL VINCENT: Colorado has had medical marijuana since 2000. The Denver Post even has a marijuana editor.

In 2012 the state voted to change its constitution to allow a recreational marijuana industry regulated from seed to sale. Unlike Uruguay, which recently moved to regulate its marijuana industry, users in the US will not be registered.

A Colorado State University study is estimating sales of up $US606 million this year alone. The government will benefit from a 25 per cent tax on those sales. Another study is predicting the national legal market will grow to $US2.3 billion.

But Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police legislative representative John Jackson says just because it is legal, doesn't mean it is allowed everywhere.

JOHN JACKSON: You're seeing places now that are beginning to ban it. The most recent in Denver was Denver International Airport. They have banned marijuana from being on their property.

MICHAEL VINCENT: John Jackson is the police chief of Greenwood Village on the southern edge of Denver. He says they are finding the new laws challenging.

JOHN JACKSON: The county jails aren't taking personal marijuanas. So it's personal property now and I have to then have my officer come back and put it in our evidence room to be held until it can be released. Well, we're not releasing it because it's a violation of federal law. It's very difficult. It creates a lot of challenges with the contradictions that are currently in place.

MICHAEL VINCENT: Some advocates have said it will allow police to focus on the harder drugs.

JOHN JACKSON: One of the biggest fallacies is that by legalising it we're going to get rid of the black market and cartels. And law enforcement has said this entire time that all we're going to do is allow the cartels to move into the state of Colorado and operate under the veil of some kind of legitimate cover. And we're seeing that.

And it's not all dispensaries. It's not all stores. It's not all operations. But it's a tenuous balance. If anybody believes that legalising it will get rid of the black market, they're out of their mind.

I think down the road, my personal opinion is, we will see the ramifications and the consequences for our state and our children as a result of doing this and they will not be positive.

MICHAEL VINCENT: Colorado is not alone. Washington State will begin its legal sales of recreational marijuana mid-year.